What kind of pets do people have in your country? Dogs? Cats? How about a duck, hippo or lion? Here are two cases of animal owners with unusual pets.

Barrie Hayman has a pet duck called Star. Barrie adopted (领养) him after his brothers and sisters stayed away from him at birth. Barrie, a duck breeder, realized the little duck needed special attention. So he began taking Star with him everywhere he went. “I would put him in my pocket while I did my shopping,” said Barrie. Now, at five months, Star is too big for Barrie’s pocket, but the two are still inseparable. They watch sports together and even share a drink together. Barrie said, “He is one fantastic duck. I’ve never known any like him.” Star even has his own Facebook page, with more than 2,000 Facebook friends.

Then there’s the case of Tonie and Shirley Joubert in South Africa. They live with their pet hippo, Jessica. Tonie saved Jessica from floodwaters when she was only a day old. Jessica lives outside their riverside house, but she knows how to open the kitchen door, and often goes there for a snack. Tonie recently said, “I don’t know whether Jessica sees me as a hippo or whether she sees herself as a human.” Shirley is more certain, “Jessica sees herself as our child and I see Jessica as my daughter. I can’t imagine my life without Jessica.” Jessica is free to leave, and often visits wild hippos that live nearby. But she always returns home at night. Jessica’s website notes that she has three hippo boyfriends, but one in particular, Fred, is her favorite. They often go grazing (吃青草) together and Fred has recently moved onto the Jouberts’ house as well.

1.What’s the main idea of the passage?

A. Some websites are set up to protect pets.

B. Some unusual pets are adopted by people.

C. People should take good care of their pets.

D. Pets sometimes can be very interesting.

2.What does the underlined word “inseparable” in Paragraph 2 mean?

A. Always together. B. Always separated.

C. Always friendly. D. Always healthy.

3.Barrie took Star everywhere he went because .

A. he had never seen a duck like Star

B. he set up a Facebook page for Star

C. he wanted to care more about Star

D. he needed Star to drink with him

4. We can learn from the passage that Jessica .

A. came to the Jouberts’ home when she was 5 months old

B. loves eating in the Jouberts’ kitchen

C. doesn’t see herself as a human being

D. has more than three boyfriends

An eight-year-old Arthur Gonzaga from Minas Gerais, Brazil has taken the Internet by a storm, as first reported by TheHuffingtonPost, with his online YouTube series videos “Arthur Gourmand”. And while it would not be a far stretch of the imagination to assume an 8-year-old’s cooking show would be filled with dishes like pizza and burgers, Arthur’s show actually features recipes like fruit salad a la créme de passion fruit and filet mignon (菲力牛排).

The idea to record Arthur’s cooking adventures on YouTube was rooted in the young chef’s leukemia diagnosis (白血病诊断) in August 2013.Treatment and recovery for the cancer left the young boy in the hospital for the second half of the year and Aruthur was even forced to spend Christmas Eve in the emergency room of So Paulo’s A.C. Camargo Cancer Center. That’s when his family—father Renato Gonzaga and stepmother Priscila Inserra—decided that Arthur should create something positive that would distract him from his health.

The videos, which are filmed in the kitchen of a friend of the family, are in Portuguese. They show Arthur walking the viewers through a step-by-step process of the entire recipe—from preparation to cooking. Occasionally, viewers can see Arthur’s father serving as his son’s sous chef, passing ingredients and following his lead.

Fluent in Portuguese or not, viewers can immediately notice Arthur’s optimistic and friendly personality. It is perhaps these qualities that have given the young rising Internet star almost 5,000 likes on his Facebook Fan Page. There are currently three videos on YouTube and according to his most recent Facebook post, the young boy will be taking suggestions for his next video.

Fortunately, according to what Inserra told TheHuffingtonPost, Arthur is responding well to his treatments and is on his path to recovery. “The secret of life is to let it take you, to have fun and to know how to turn lemons into lemonade (柠檬水),” wrote her family, fittingly, on their most recent Facebook post. Hats off to Arthur, who truly serves as a shining example of how to turn lemons into lemonade.

1.Arthur Gourmand is a name of .

A.the boy B.the boy’s illness

C.a newspaper D.the boy’s cooking show

2.Arthur performs his cooking show .

A.on the stage B.in his friend’s kitchen

C.in his own kitchen D.in the emergency room

3.The underlined phrase “sous chef” probably means .

A.a assistant of a chef B.a adviser of a chef

C.a companion of a chef D.a friend of a chef

4.Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A.Arthur has finished all his videos.

B.Arthur doesn’t speak Portuguese fluently.

C.Arthur had to spend the New Year’s Eve in the hospital.

D.Arthur sets a good example to those with serious illness.

There is growing concern about food insecurity in the developing world. Rising food prices, weather emergencies and political problems are deepening the struggle for families in many countries.

Three UN agencies have published a report recently, saying high prices are likely to continue. Gregory Barrow, who is with the World Food Program in Rome, says, “If you look at the places where the World Food Program works, particularly in developing countries, you see people who might be spending more than 60 percent of their salary in purchasing food for their families.”

East Africa is suffering its worst drought in years. In Kenya, at least three and a half million people are going hungry, mostly in the north. Yet food is going to waste in central Kenya. Now, farmers there want the government to buy their food and give it to those in need. Farmers say bad roads and lack of transportation make it difficult for them to get their produce to the market.

Mr. Barrow says, “It needs the government to make some arrangements such as providing transport. They can buy it at a good price, then give it to those people instead of asking for food from overseas, which is very bad. When we are throwing away food, they are asking for food from overseas.”

Economists say that imports reduce local food prices, decrease productivity(生产效率) and increase the dependency on other countries. Farmers in Kenya hope the government can pay higher prices for their crops so that they can feed more Kenyans.

1.What is the best title for this passage?

A. Kenya Imports Food from Abroad

B. A World Food Program in Rome.

C. The Poor Suffer from High Food Prices.

D. A Report Published by Three UN Agencies.

2.What do we know about Kenya from the passage?

A. The people in central Kenya are suffering from hunger.

B. At least three and a half million Kenyans lack food.

C. The Kenyan government wants to improve road conditions.

D. People in northern Kenya refuse to ask for food from overseas.

3.What does “they” in the fourth paragraph refer to?

A. The people of northern Kenya.

B. Government officials.

C. The farmers of central Kenya.

D. Kenyan economists.

4.Which of the following statements is TRUE, according to this passage?

A. Gregory Barrow suggests that Kenya make good use of overseas food.

B. People in northern Kenya are suffering the drought less than the central.

C. Economists believe importing food from abroad may cause problems.

D. Kenyan government hopes to buy the native crops at higher prices.

One of the greatest contributions to the first Oxford English Dictionary was also one of its most unusual. In 1879, Oxford University in England asked Prof. James Murray to serve as editor for what was to be the most ambitious dictionary in the history of the English language. It would include every English word possible and would give not only the definition but also the history of the word and quotations (引文) showing how it was used.

This was a huge task, so Murray had to find volunteers from Britain, the United States, and the British colonies to search every newspaper, magazine, and book ever written in English. Hundreds of volunteers responded, including William Chester Minor. Dr. Minor was an American surgeon who had served in the Civil War and was now living in England. He gave his address as “Broadmoor, Crowthorne, Berkshire,” 50 miles from Oxford.

Minor joined the army of volunteers sending words and quotations to Murray. Over the next 17 years, he became one of the staff’s most valued contributors.

But he was also a mystery. In spite of many invitations, he would always decline to visit Oxford. So in 1897, Murray finally decided to travel to Crowthorne himself. When he arrived, he found Minor locked in a book-lined cell at the Broadmoor Asylum (精神病院) for the Criminally Insane.

Murray and Minor became friends, sharing their love of words. Minor continued contributing to the dictionary, sending in more than 10,000 submissions in 20 years. Murray continued to visit Minor regularly, sometimes taking walks with him around the asylum grounds.

In 1910, Minor left Broadmoor for an asylum in his native America. Murray was at the port to wave

goodbye to his remarkable friend.

Minor died in 1920, seven years before the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was completed. The 12 volumes defined 414,825 words, and thousands of them were contributions from a very scholarly and devoted asylum patient.

1.According to the text, the first Oxford English Dictionary _________.

A. came out before minor died

B. was edited by an American volunteer

C. was intended to be the most ambitious English dictionary Murray

D. included the English words invented by Murray

2.How did Dr. Minor contributed to the dictionary?

A. He helped Murray to find hundreds of volunteers.

B. He sent newspapers, magazines and books to Murray.

C. He went to England to work with Murray.

D. He provided a great number of words and quotations

3.Why did Dr. Minor refuse to visit Oxford?

A. He lived far from Oxford

B. He was shut in an asylum

C. He was busy writing a book

D. He disliked traveling

4.Prof. Murray and Dr. Minor became friends mainly because __________.

A. They had a common interest in words

B. They both served in the Civil War

C. Minor recovered with the help of Murray

D. Murray went to America regularly to visit Minor

Here are four pieces of news from China Daily:

SHANGHAI---The Huachen Group, which has put 83 million yuan in the development of the commerce market since its official registration late last year, recently held a meeting in Shanghai to show the use of its newly opened tourism business payment network. The network aims to serve tourists from all over the world, but especially from Europe and the United States where credit cards are popularly used. After opening the www.ehinaeonet.com website, netizens can get information about hotels and tourism services on tourism page. Hotels and services can be reserved and payment made through credit cards. The network opened in February in Beijing.

SYDNEY---The Sydney Olympic flame will travel underwater on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef during the torch relay following a successful test.

Scuba diver Wendy Craig, a marine biologist, will carry the torch on three-to-four-minute underwater journey at Agincourt Reef on June 27, creating Olympic history, organizers said yesterday.

Burning at 2,000 degrees, the torch is expected to remain alight three meters underwater because of a special kind of technology which creates a “fierce flame”--- too powerful to be drowned out by water. Charles Tegner, managing director of torch creator, said the flame would burn like a flame from oxygen-producing chemicals.

BEIJING---The election of a new leader in Taiwan cannot change the fact that Taiwan is part of China. “Taiwan Independence” in whatever form will never be allowed, according to a statesman of China’s central government.

“We should listen to what the new leader in Taiwan says and watch what he does. We will observe where he will lead Cross-Straits relations. We are willing to exchange views on Cross-Straits relations and peaceful reunification(统一) with all parties, organizations and people in Taiwan who favor the one-China principle,” says the statesman, from Taiwan Affairs Office of the CPC Central Committee.

HAIKOU---Customs officers in Haikou, capital of South China’s Hainan Province, recently stopped a boat loaded with 781 cases of foreign-brand cigarettes being smuggling into China. The cigarettes are estimated to be worth more than 1.8 million yuan, said a customs officer. They discovered the smuggling boat as they were going around the northern sea area of Yangpu Port.

The smuggled cigarettes cases, packed into two containers, were disguised to avoid being examined. The boat was registered in the coastal city Xiamen in East China’s Fujian Province. All eight suspects aboard the boat were kept by the police in Haikou.

1.Why does the network aim to serve tourists especially from Europe and the USA?

A. Because they are from developed countries.

B. Because the payments of hotels and services are usually made through credit cards in these places.

C. Because people in these countries travel much more than those in other countries.

D. Because they have more computers than others.

2.Which is the best title for the third piece of news?

A. Ready to Fight B. No Good End

C. Wait and See D. Peace Comes First

3.Which of the following best explains the underlined word “disguised” in the last piece of news?

A. Made different from the normal so as to hide the truth.

B. Designed for a good purpose.

C. Hidden out of people’s sight.

D. Covered with unattractive things.

I fell in love with England because it was quaint (古雅)—all those little houses, looking terri­bly old-fashioned but nice, like dolls’ houses. I loved the countryside and the pubs, and I loved London. I’ve slightly changed my mind after seventeen years because I think it’s an ugly town now.

Things have changed. For everybody, England meant gentlemen, fair play, and good man­ners. The fair play is going, unfortunately, and so are the gentlemanly attitudes and good man­ners—people shut doors heavily in your face and politeness is disappearing.

I regret that there are so few comfortable meeting places. You’re forced to live indoors. In Paris I go out much more, to restaurants and nightclubs. To meet friends here it usually has to be in a pub, and it can be difficult to go there alone as a woman. The cafes are not terribly nice.

As a woman, I feel unsafe here. I spend a bomb on taxis because I will not take public trans­port after 10 p. m. I used to use it , but now I’m afraid.

The idea of family seems to be more or less non-existent in England. My family is well united and that’s typically French. In Middlesex I had a neighbor who is 82 now. His family only lived two miles away, but I took him to France for Christmas once because he was always alone.

1.The writer doesn’t like London because she ______.

A. is not used to the life there now

B. has lived there for seventeen years

C. prefers to live in an old-fashioned house

D. has to be polite to everyone she meets there

2.Where do people usually meet their friends in England?

A. In a cafe. B. In a restaurant.

C. In a nightclub. D. In a pub.

3.The underlined part “it” (in Para. 4) refers to______.

A. a taxi B. the money

C. a bomb D. public transport

4.The writer took her neighbors to France for Christmas because he ______.

A. felt lonely in England

B. had never been to France

C. was from a typical French family

D. didn't like the British idea of family

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